Serbs in Kosovo need independent TV channel (Politika)
In an interview for Politika daily, Rada Komazec, editor and journalist for the Kosovo based newspaper Jedinstvo stated that Jedinstvo has existed for seven decades: “Throughout its entire history, Jedinstvo has shared the destiny of the Serbian people in Kosovo,” she said.
Jedinstvo pieces have not been appreciated by Kosovo interim institutions which has led to lawsuits…
After the publishing of dramatic stories about the remaining Serbs in Kosovo by the newspaper, began the accusations by interim Kosovo institutions, the Media Commissioner and finally a court process in Pristina. The cases were successfully closed, but recently a new one has been opened…
It is hard to speak about freedom of media in a place where the human rights of the Serbs are violated on a daily basis…
An additional problem is that in Kosovo, there is an ongoing fight for equal recognition of language, both written and spoken, and of course for an independent TV channel in Serbian language… Upon the initiative of UNS (Association of Journalists of Serbia) and UNKiM (Association of Journalists of Kosovo), a commitment to establishing an independent TV channel for Serbs was included in the Ahtisaari plan . That commitment was also included in the Kosovo Constitution.
Taking into account the fact that the Serbian channel RTK2 already exists as part of RTK, is there any chance that an independent public service be established?
…The Kosovo Constitution envisages the establishment of an independent licenced Serbian channel, which would cover the whole territory of Kosovo. The editing policy of that channel would not be influenced by Pristina, what cannot be said for RTK2. It is expected that the Serbian TV channel issue will be discussed during future Brussels talks meetings. If there is no freedom of expression and information, there is no freedom of personality and society. The rest leads to silent assimilation.